The Anchoress (musician)

This article is about the musical act. For Anchoress, see Anchorite.
The Anchoress
Origin Glynneath, Wales
Genres Indie rock, pop,
Years active 2013 (2013)–present
Labels Kscope (Link), Too Pure (Link)
Associated acts Simple Minds, Paul Draper (Mansun), Bernard Butler (Suede)
Website www.iamtheanchoress.com
Members Catherine Anne Davies

The Anchoress is the stage name of Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and author Catherine Anne Davies (aka Catherine AD) who currently resides in Buckinghamshire, England.

Biography

Davies formed The Anchoress in 2013. Paul Draper has co-produced The Anchoress's debut album, Confessions of a Romance Novelist, which is set for release on January 15 2016 via Kscope.[1] [2] A second album will be produced by Bernard Butler.[3][4]

From March to Dec 2015, Davies performed in Simple Minds' live band, contributing additional guitar and keyboards.[5][6] She met Jim Kerr through The Dark Flowers collective.[7] She has also performed live with Ed Harcourt at Glastonbury Festival,[8] as well as Martha Wainwright.[9]

Musical style

Davies has been described by NPR's Ann Powers as "Wales's (much more explicitly feminist) answer to Lana Del Rey."[10] Davies cites Laura Nyro, David Bowie, Tom Waits, Prince, Kate Bush, Harry Nilsson, and The Carpenters as influences.[11]

Solo and Side projects

Previous to The Anchoress project, Davies self-released music under her own name and as Catherine A.D.

In 2009, Davies performed with London Philharmonic Orchestra as an artist-in-residence at London's South Bank Centre.[12][13] Through this role, she wrote with Riz MC and collaborated with Nitin Sawhney.[9][14][15]

Under the abbreviated A.D. guise, Davies released the single Carry Your Heart,[12] and a mini-album entitled Communion.[16] NME described Communion as an "understated but beautiful mini-album" when naming it one of the 20 best "cult/experimental" albums of 2011.[17] She also released a collection covers entitled Reprise.[18] The release featured re-interpretations of songs by Friendly Fires, Sleigh Bells, Nick Drake, Tracy Chapman, Bon Iver, Hurts, My Brightest Diamond, The Crystals, Nina Simone and The Magnetic Fields.[19]

Davies is also a member of The Dark Flowers "super-group".[20] The project was started by songwriter and producer Paul Statham in 2009.[21] She appears alongside vocalist's Jim Kerr, Kate Havnevik, Dot Allison, Peter Murphy, Shelly Poole, Helicopter Girl and Remi Roughe. In an interview with Clash, Davies said "It’s basically a project put together by a guy called Paul Statham who’s a songwriter/producer and he had this idea to make a dark country record, kind like ‘Paris/Texas’ soundtrack."[22]

Davies also appeared as a backing vocalist on Emmy The Great's debut single Secret Circus.

Writing

Davies has a PhD in literature and queer theory from University College London, and has published a book entitled Whitman's Queer Children about epic poetry through Bloomsbury Publishing.[7][23]

Davies has written about film-maker David Lynch for the NME,[24] and has interviewed Tori Amos[25] and Manic Street Preachers[26][27][28] for Drowned in Sound.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Bridgewater, Paul. "The Anchoress debut album details". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  2. ↑ "Listen to 'Popular' By The Anchoress plus debut album details". The Quietus. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "The Anchoress working with Bernard Butler". The Anchoress. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Bernard Butler reveals he's working with The Anchoress". Sonotronics. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Simple Minds: Big Music – behind the scenes". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Lester, Paul. "Blurred sidelines: meet the musicians who are doctors, gardeners and authors". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Interview for SimpleMinds dot org". Simple Minds. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "Ed Harcourt & Catherine AD Collaboration". Ed Harcourt. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Emerging Artist in Residence". The Londonist. Retrieved 13 November 2008.
  10. ↑ Powers, Ann. "Musicians You'll Tell Your Friends About In 2015". NPR. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  11. ↑ "The Anchoress biography". Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  12. 1 2 "Catherine A.D. talks about the brooding darkness in her Valentine's Day EP". Dazed & Confused. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  13. ↑ "Escape Velocity in-depth interview with Catherine AD". The Quietus. Retrieved 16 July 2009.
  14. ↑ "AllMusic page for 'Sour Times' by Riz MC". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "The Guardian's New Band of The Week". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  16. ↑ "30 Seconds with... Catherine AD". PRS' M Magazine. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  17. ↑ Doran, John. "The 20 Best Cult/Experimental Albums 2011". NME. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  18. ↑ Boult, Adams. "This Week's Top 5 Music Links". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  19. ↑ "CATHERINE AD - REPRISE: THE COVERS COLLECTION". http://guardianmusic.tumblr.com/. Retrieved 25 June 2012. External link in |work= (help)
  20. ↑ Gourlay, Dom. "Radioland by Dark Flowers album review". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  21. ↑ Tuffey, Laurie. "Jim Kerr, Catherine AD, Dot Allison and Paul Statham tell The Quietus about their Sam Shephard-inspired collaborative LP". The Quietus. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  22. ↑ Walker-Smart, Sam. "Ones To Watch: Catherine AD". Clash. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  23. ↑ "Whitman's Queer Children: America's Homosexual Epics". Bloomsbury Group. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
  24. ↑ "The Music Of Twin Peaks Dissected: What Does 'Lynchian' Actually Mean". NME. Retrieved 7 Oct 2014.
  25. ↑ "Catherine AD meets Tori Amos". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
  26. ↑ "Nicky Wire on the Manic Street Preachers' return: Part One". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  27. ↑ "Nicky Wire on the Manic Street Preachers' return: Part Two". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 15 June 2009.
  28. ↑ "Nicky Wire on the Manic Street Preachers' return: Part Three". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 15 June 2009.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.